Control your irritation, it might cost you something dear.
---------
"Sousuke," Rin called out his name.
"Mhm?" Sousuke hummed, looking up at Rin.
"We should probably hurry, the bus is about to leave. There's still a lot of racing to do tomorrow. We need to get back and debrief ASAP."
"Yeah..." Sousuke stood up, "I know." He smirked as we walked past Rin.
"Is there something on your mind?" Rin asked.
"Just a blast from the past," Sousuke responded.
"Huh?"
"I'm kidding," Sousuke looks over his shoulder back at Rin with a smirk.
Rin exhales.
***
Attention ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the men's 400-meter medley relay race.
The Iwatobi and Samezuka teams' lanes were side by side. With the way things have been going, it could go either way.
"I'm sure the boys will be okay out there. I know they can pull this off. There's an old saying that goes, 'It's not the strong who win, it's the winners who are strong.'" Ms. Amakata said.
"Ready? On your marks... Get set.... Go!" The whistle went off and Makoto began the 4-men train of the pool.
"Oh no! He got a late start!" Gō said.
"He'll catch up!" I said.
The turn came about, "Makoto is catching up to Momo!" Coach Sasabe said.
Makoto slapped his hand against the concrete and Nagisa jumped in.
"His extension isn't working!" I shouted.
"Samezuka is maintaining the lead after the exchange! There's a chance Rei might not be able to catch up. He's trying but Samezuka is too fast!" Gō pointed out.
Son of a bi— Wait, did Sousuke just slow down for a moment? Something doesn't feel right.
Haru and Rin jumped in and Rin had the lead, "Guys, Rin turned first!" Rei shouted. But quickly Haru matched his speed.
"...they just lost..." Ms. A said.
Coach Sasabe chuckled, "But they made it past the prelims! Which means we move onto the regional tournament!"
"At least..." I said under my breath. Though I'm worried about the team, I can't seem to get my mind off that one moment I noticed with Sou while he was in the pool. I'm also pretty sure Rin noticed it as well.
***
"You guys, look at this. Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa all advanced to Regionals but the times in the individual competitions were barely fast enough to make the cut. See! I got the numbers right here!" Gō said as she pointed at a sheet of paper, "All the top spots are filled with Samezuka swimmers."
"Well I suppose our times can't stand against Samezuka Academy after all," Makoto said.
"The only one who managed to stay at the top of his category was Haru in freestyle. The long and short of it is this: Iwatobi is a long way from being able to compete. Here's the deal, we can't be satisfied with mediocre results like this," Gō continued.
"What's mediocre is the fact that you all choked. I've worked with you all for well over a year. I know these," I grabbed the paper, "These times aren't yours," I ripped the paper, "I'm going to work on a harder training regimen from now until Regionals and I don't want to hear any excuses. Samezuka Academy training isn't lenient. If they go hard, we will just have to go harder!"
YOU ARE READING
hydrophiliac| completed.
Fanfiction[reader] goes into the anime Free! for all 3 seasons as Makoto Tachibana's older twin. Their childhood friends who most were separated as kids come back together one way or another, swim as highschool / college students using [reader] as a way to fu...
